Video from 2022 misrepresented as footage of Baltimore bridge collapse
A container ship rests against wreckage of the Francis Scott Key Bridge on Tuesday, March 26, 2024, as seen from Pasadena, Md. Social media users are misrepresenting a 2022 video as footage of the Baltimore bridge’s collapse. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
CLAIM: A video taken on Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge shows a large explosion that occurred before the structure fell into the water below.
AP’S ASSESSMENT: False. The video circulated online in 2022, identified as showing security footage of an explosion that caused the partial collapse of the Kerch Bridge, which links the Crimean Peninsula with Russia. It was shared at the time on Russian Telegram channels and by major media outlets.
THE FACTS: After a container ship lost power and rammed into the Key Bridge causing it to collapse early Tuesday, social media users shared the old video, falsely representing it as footage from the bridge before it fell into the Patapsco River.
The 15-second clip shows vehicles driving over an arching bridge lit up at night. An enormous fireball then suddenly engulfs the structure.
“Alternate angle on Francis Scott Key bridge shows a large explosion,” reads one tweet that had received approximately 7,500 likes and 3,800 shares as of Tuesday afternoon.
A Facebook post that shared the video, referring to the incident as the “#FrancesScottKeyBridge explosion,” had been viewed more than 278,000 times by Tuesday afternoon.
But the video is unrelated to what happened with the Key Bridge.
It was first shared in 2022 on Russian Telegram channels and by major media outlets, where it was identified as security footage of the moment an explosion damaged the Kerch Bridge, an important supply artery for the Kremlin in the Russia-Ukraine war, killing three people in the process.
The container ship that hit the Key Bridge crashed into one of its pillars at about 1:30 a.m., causing it to break apart like a toy and tumble into the water in a matter of seconds. Video captured the entire spectacle and spread widely on social media following the incident.
Both the FBI and U.S. Attorney Erek Barron, Maryland’s top prosecutor, say there are no signs of terrorism.
A construction crew filling potholes and several vehicles fell into dangerously cold waters when the bridge collapsed, the AP has reported. Rescuers pulled two people from the water alive, but as of Tuesday afternoon, six others — all members of the construction crew — were missing. The ship’s crew issued a mayday call moments before the crash took place, enabling authorities to limit vehicle traffic on the span.
The Dali was headed from Baltimore to Colombo, Sri Lanka, and flying under a Singapore flag, according to data from Marine Traffic. Opened in 1977, the Key Bridge spanned the entrance to the Port of Baltimore, a major hub for shipping on the East Coast, and carried more than 12.4 million vehicles in 2023. It is named for the writer of “the Star-Spangled Banner.”
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This is part of the AP’s effort to address widely shared false and misleading information that is circulating online. Learn more about fact-checking at AP.
